Martial Arts Kid to Teen Wolf Stud: Taylor Lautner Bio

Find out what a little “Twilight” can get you–if you’re Taylor Lautner, the baby-faced and hard bodied werewolf of the fantasy franchise, you could be pulling in a $33 million dollar annual income for 2010 alone as you will discover in this Taylor Lautner bio. Read about how this young man went from Michigan to millionaire in just a few years.

Young Taylor Lautner started off far from the Hollywood glamour, born in Michigan in1992 to an airline pilot and a project manager. As a kid, Lautner showed a natural talent for martial arts eventually leading to a number one ranking be the AmericanSports Karate Association and a meeting with coach Mike Chat. As a former Power Ranger, Chat recognized Taylor Lautner’s appeal and connected him with a Hollywood agent. His parents flew him back and forth to Los Angeles for auditions, which resulted in some small parts in TV shows such as “The Bernie Mac Show” and “My Wife and Kids,” as well as some small film roles, eventually landing a lead in “The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl.”

Then there was the “Twilight” phenomenon. Cast as Jacob Black for a small role in the original film, the producers intended on replacing an older, more buff actor for the future films. Instead, Taylor Lautner used that discipline learned during his martial arts training to resculpt his boyish looks into the stuff of 4thplace in People magazine’s “Most Amazing Bodies” list of 2010, as well as the number 2 spot in "The 50 Sexiest Men of 2010" list by Glamour magazine. The “Twilight” producers kept Lautner as the werewolf in the love triangle that develops in “Twilight: New Moon” and “Twilight: Eclipse” spawning a Team Jacob versus Team Edward fervor amongst the tween (and beyond) audience.

If the “Twilight” series didn’t offer enough magazine covers, there was also the necessity of a few tabloid tales. First, a brief romance with singing sensation Taylor Swift, who then memorialized the relationship in a song, “Back to December” after the two met on the film set of “Valentine’s Day.” Then, Disney tween starlet Selena Gomez was the rumored sweetheart, and finally the inevitable gay rumors, courtesy of a Rolling Stone magazine profile. There have also been a lot of red carpets on his calendar, with nominations for MTV Movie Awards, People's Choice Awards, and Scream Awards.

With his public profile escalating and the Twilight box office exploding, it was not surprise that Taylor would be offered leading roles. With the two part “Breaking Dawn” finale to the “Twilight Saga” series coming up, Lautner signed on for the lead in John “Boys in the Hood” Singleton’s “Abduction.” The 2011 thriller will focus on Lautner as a young man who discovers his own photo in a Missing Person’s website. He’ll also star in the science fiction drama “Incarceron,” another big budget vehicle for the post Twilight career.

With such a busy schedule of opportunities, its little wonder he landed on spot number 9 of Vanity Fair’s top Hollywood earners in 2010, even ahead of veterans Will Smith and Robert Downey J., as well as his more indie film minded co-stars, Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson. Young Lautner may not have the Hollywood pedigree of a Drew Barrymore or Gwenyth Paltrow, but he’s certainly learned how to play high stakes Hollywood, before he’s even old enough to have a beer.